Jerusalem has been the capital of Israel since shortly after the creation of the State of Israel in 1948. All Israeli institutions, from its Knesset (Parliament), the office of the Prime Minister and the Supreme Court have been based in Jerusalem since the establishment of the State of Israel more than 70 years ago.

The President of The Australian Jewish Association, Dr David Adler said

“The Prime Minister’s announcement is a good step in the right direction by the Australian Government. The recognition of Jerusalem as the eternal capital of the Jewish People is the correct decision and demonstrates Australia’s foreign policy independence. We congratulate the Prime Minister’s leadership and courage in taking this step.”

The Australian Jewish Association had been consulted by the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet in relation to this policy.

“We are pleased that the Prime Minister consulted with AJA on this key matter for the Australian Jewish community and that our views were given weight as reflected in today’s historic announcement”

Jerusalem was the ancient capital of the Kingdom of Israel and the location of the Jewish Temples. Jews have lived in Jerusalem for over 3,000 years and the city has been divided into East and West Jerusalem for a mere 19 years between 1948 and 1967 when the eastern side was illegally occupied by Jordan.

Israel has announced Jerusalem is to remain united as it always was.

The Australian Jewish Association would therefore have preferred for today’s pronouncement to have drawn no distinction between an “east” and “west” Jerusalem and to include the announcement of the immediate move of the Australian Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

The Australian Jewish Association sees no impediment for that to occur now.

The Australian Jewish Association is, however, encouraged that the Prime Minister stated that while in the interim Australia will establish a trade and ­defence office in west Jerusalem with immediate effect, Australia will seek the relocation of its Embassy to Jerusalem

While it is somewhat disappointing the relocation of the Embassy to Israel capital will not happen immediately, The Australian Jewish Association will continue to advocate that Australia should take the natural step to move its embassy to the capital of Israel as it is the norm for Australia in any other nation.

Finally, The Australian Jewish Association congratulates the Prime Minister for calling out on the deeply seated anti-Israeli bias within the United Nations, effectively accusing the United Nations of “presiding over a new age of antisemitism”.

It is high time for the UN to be held to account for its open antisemitism and the Prime Minister’s words are a very strong reminder that the UN must change or lose any purpose as an international institution.

15 comments

During the 1947-49 War of Arab Aggression, the Arab kingdom of Jordan, with the help of Arabs who decades later began to call themselves “”Palestinians””, ethnically cleansed all the Jews out of the old part of the city.

That was only one of the many Arab war crimes that were committed in that war.

On the other hand, as the palestinians are not likely to go anywhere while they are, indeed, a nightmare turned an undeniable reality, the alternate, 2nd state notion must be accepted.
The advantage is that Israel has and will maintain the upper hand in deciding how and even where that state will be implemented.
At this stage, the palestinian presence right within the Jewish State is a major inconvenience, to say the least, but once agreed to become a STATE, the terms will be of standards decided/approved by Israeli interests/conditions/acceptance/imperatives etc. This is to say that, if the palestinians are that anxious to have a state of their own, they will have to toe the lines determined by Israel and Israel alone.
In the meantime the Jewish State is thriving.
I am not, however, unaware of the terrible price my people are paying while guarding my wonderful, G-d given land of our own…..
Short and curly: the two state solution is inevitable/inescapable !!!

I respect your opinion, but even the late Yitzhak Rabin would have disagreed with you. It may be down to semantics (if you will) but a separate Arab state was never on the Oslo table as far as he was concerned. Just goes to show the danger of open ended negotiations, before you know it the other side is laying claim to promises you never made or intended.

With due and real respect, past agreements, wherever reached ( Oslo, Camp David etc. ) , while yet to be realised, actually precisely because they haven’t been implemented, are but details of history, not actual, tangible instruments with which the current and, most definitely future negotiations will be carried out.
It is, at least for our peace of mind, advisable to accept that the palestinian whatever form of state alternative has legs, however, the stretch of those crooked legs will be determined by the ACTUAL rapport of forces at the time of the decisive negotiations and, I must repeat, I am yet to be convinced that Israel will not prevail.
I am sure that, realistically, with the formation of the Jewish State and, in fact for previous millennia, existential conflicts of the Jewish lot must be accepted as a tangible sine qua non. Variations in the identity of the actual enemy/enemies are not likely to alter so far unfolded fate/history. I, for one, got used to it while incessantly conceiving ways/strategies of survival.
Part of the inescapable schwer zusein a Yid !!!

But Otto, surely it was Oslo that led us to where we are today, surely it was the contrived Arab positions during Oslo that led to Israel being demonized as a pariah apartheid state by even so called friends, and surely it was Oslo that led to the bizarre situation of the vanquished dictating terms to the (1967) victors?

On the other hand, it seems to me, that PM Netanyahu is speaking the same language as Yitzhak Rabin was: a demilitarized autonomous zone in Areas A & B in Judea and Samaria, certainly not statehood is what’s still offered?

Between them the big difference is, of course, that the former PM allowed a terrorist organization to assume political power in the disputed territories and the current PM is somewhat saddled with it.

As regards Gaza, well Arik got that one wrong, didn’t he? Gaza stands as a lesson for all time about where the Oslo madness and its ilk would get Israel if she gave in to outside US and world pressure again. Or, if she gave even an inch to any entity sworn to her destruction.

Shirlee dear, I am fully aware of the palestinian “cabala”, of the outrageous claims, the criminal palestinian mind-set, but latest I checked, Bibi is peddling the same notion of “talks” with an acceptable palestinian party, capable of ensuring all those notions I mentioned above.
I only reproduce what I observe when it comes to “exterior’ realities. The “interior” or internal ideas I concoct, I make sure would not interfere with with such delicate issues, as the dynamics of the ME situation, lest I would be seriously “reprimanded”, to say the least…..

Shirlee, I agree that the two state solution is dead and buried in reality yet many governments such as the UK and Australia still trumpet it as the only show in town, much to rapturous Pallywood applause.

Check out the “”Palestinian”” “phased solution for the dissolution of “the Zionist state.”
Phase one was the Oslo arrangement; the Arabs laughed all the way to their suicide belts as Peres basked in the “glory” of becoming the world’s anti-Zionist poster boy.

Yes, the lesson from history has to be that Israel should never again negotiate with those sworn to her destruction, which is not to say Israel should not look them in the eye and talk to her enemies if it is to her advantage to do so.

This conflict is unique as it offers the most innovative angles of a conflict and its seemingly endless variations of non-implementable attempts at a resolution. The most distinct character is that one enemy ( the palestinian compound ) has managed to progress during the time of the conflict from a mere unsophisticated, practically a savage lot, into a claimed state entity without an actual state substance and/or shape. The MULTIPLE standards at play here create occasional dismay, confusion as per the mere reality of the claims the palestinian camp come up with. Their intentions at this stage – and for a while to come – are not to conclude a treaty, agreement, accord, indeed reach peace or whatever they would fathom as their own prefered outcome.
In the clearly divided palestinian society, being the elite, leadership contingent and the cannon fodder “rest”, the principal reason d’etre is to maintain the status of victims.
The chief difference between a victim of any other origin and the palestinian variety is the intended morphing of these victims of the local/regional and international Zionism/Jewish “master race” into the post Shoah palestinian nouveaux Juiff.
These pseudo humans are a travesty of ethical standards, they are replicating our, Jewish millennia of persecution into their profile/identity.
The results are astounding. Not only Israel is denied the rightful status of the home of the most persecuted people in history, not only history is turned into a most outrageous travesty, as we are at the mercy of the most diabolic criminal minds, but Jewish suffering is made to be perpetuated.
If the UN is the world in a permanent session of checks and balances ( which, actually, it is ) the infamous percentage of Israel bashings – another way/word for stark antisemitism – , the criminal reversal of roles, the substitution of victim identity has been impeccably executed by these”unsophisticated” , only recently faceless, homeless, primitive mob known and respected these days as palestinians.
The immediate benefits are far too obvious, incredible massive and multiple to attempt an account.
They have fooled most the world real good !!!
Removing the mask of travesty, revealing the …known facts should not be that hard……Alevai !!!

In the meantime, the “state” mentioned in Oslo, at Camp David in so many other places and so annoyingly idiotically conceived, is not going anywhere, but not going away either…